Chapter 33 Jin Ling 33
The distraught Concubine Xian stumbled all the way back to Xianju Palace, where Madam Wan was waiting for her.
"Why is mother here..." The virtuous concubine looked dazed, her words were incoherent, and she seemed to be worried about something.
"Xian'er, haven't you got what you wanted? Why do you look so unhappy?" Madam Wan had never seen her look so desperate.
Xian Fei sat on the Arhat couch in a daze, her voice weak and feeble: "Your Majesty... and Zhao Fei, the court painter will paint them together..."
"What? That lowly servant girl is in a painting with His Majesty? What merits has she taken?" Madam Wan immediately joined her daughter in a shared hatred. "As expected, there's not a single good person in this Shanggong Bureau. They're all vixens. That Yao Jinling was originally trained by that bitch Ruan Cuiyun, so of course she's just as lowly!"
Seeing her daughter so upset, she quickly embraced the virtuous concubine and said, "Don't be afraid, my daughter. I will take care of you. I will never let you be trampled under the feet of a lowly servant."
"What can we do?" Concubine Xian was a little discouraged.
Madam Wan mysteriously took out a prescription and put it in her daughter's hand. Before Concubine Xian could ask, she spoke impatiently, "This prescription was given by that Taoist priest. He is now one of ours."
"I specifically asked him to calculate your fortune. The Taoist priest said that your life is invaluable and will be fulfilled as long as the golden dragon enters your embrace."
Madam Wan pointed at the prescription and said, "This is a pregnancy-preserving medicine that Mother spent a great deal of money to obtain. It guarantees that my son will have a boy!"
Wan Baoxian tightly grasped the prescription in her hand, her heart pounding. If only she could have a child with His Majesty and herself...
"She can't resist this temptation!" After finishing the draft, Jin Ling left the Empress Dowager's palace, ignoring the Emperor's eyes that wanted to keep her, and walked towards the Shanggong Bureau on her own.
Xiaomo followed her and they chatted and laughed. The palace people who passed by envied her Xiaomo and thought that Concubine Zhao was approachable, gentle and amiable.
"Your Majesty is very wise and resourceful. Concubine Xian is naturally no match for her." With a smile flashing in her big eyes, she looked at Concubine Zhao with admiration. Her smile had completely become Concubine Zhao's. She did not think that there was anything terrible about Jin Ling's meticulous planning. Instead, she admired her even more.
Jin Ling casually broke off a willow branch and quickly made a small ring. Seeing that Xiaowei liked it, she put it on her hand.
"Of course, Concubine Xian is no match for me. She's not qualified." Jin Ling pulled out a few more willow branches while casually chatting with a smile: "She's just a spoiled fool. She will never learn to use her brain."
After burying the last paragraph, Jin Ling carefully picked a white pear blossom and inserted it: "The Wan family also has Ma Yuanying. The supporter behind her is what I want to target."
Jin Ling thought that in the original drama, no matter how scheming Jin Ling used, she could only cause limited damage to Concubine Xian.
House arrest? Copying Buddhist scriptures? Is this considered a punishment?
Even the heinous crime of witchcraft, punishable by death, had not been implicated. Even after Jin Ling's plot had remained hidden and everyone believed that Madam Wan had used witchcraft to kill the imperial heir in Jin Ling's womb, Wan Jianfeng could still confidently accuse the emperor of being insufficiently magnanimous.
How ridiculous! Such a serious crime as killing the royal heir did not implicate him and the virtuous concubine, and even Sun Jiabi was not punished, but was given a quick death.
Such grace is actually not magnanimous enough in the eyes of others!
Liu Sanhao even sympathized with Concubine Xian, and regardless of the pain of losing her sister's son, she accompanied Concubine Xian to secretly offer sacrifices to her deceased mother.
It's too depressing, she doesn't like it.
Jin Ling made a few more wicker rings, each decorated with a different flower, and with a smile on her face, the two walked into the Shanggong Bureau.
"Three good things, three good things!"
Liu Sanhao was thinking of a new trick in the room. Seeing Jin Ling standing outside the window and winking at her, she couldn't help but run out with a smile: "Greetings to the Empress Zhao~"
Jin Ling didn't wait for her to bow and quickly supported her arm: "You are so kind! I came all the way to see you, and you are deliberately making fun of me."
Sanhao smiled and pulled her into his room, then asked Weixiao to sit down with him and poured tea for them both.
"What brings you, a distinguished gentleman, here today?"
"You say that, as if I'm so heartless, as if I'm turning my back on you after climbing up the social ladder." Jin Ling sighed pretentiously, "I even brought you something nice."
"I have everything I need. You have no roots in the palace, so you have to take care of yourself in everything." Sanhao was afraid that she would spend money, so he was about to refuse, but he saw Jinling and Wei Xiao laughing together.
"That won't do. I made this specially for you." Without waiting for Sanhao to refuse, he quickly took the ring that Smile handed to him and put it on Sanhao's hand.
"No... is this made of willow branches?" Miyoshi stared blankly at the ring on her index finger. The flexible willow branches were arranged in a uniform pattern, and in the center was a small, blooming white viburnum, simple yet elegant.
"It's so beautifully woven." Sanhao couldn't help but admire it carefully, and liked it more and more the more he looked at it.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? My craftsmanship is impeccable!" Jin Ling said jokingly, "But Liu Zhangzhen was worried that I'd spend too much money, so I had no choice but to accept the offer."
Then he reached out to her for it.
"That won't do. Your Majesty, don't you know that I'm the most stingy person in the world? I won't give such a good thing back to you now that it's in my hands."
The spring breeze of April and May was just right. It flew in from the window, swirling and lifting the hair of the three people in the room, taking away their happy smiles.
Before I knew it, the sun was setting.
"We haven't had such a pleasant chat in a long time." Jin Ling and Sanhao leaned against the window, quietly feeling the warm south breeze.
"Yeah, eh? Where's the smile?" Sanhao then realized that the smile had disappeared without him noticing.
"I asked Wei Xiao to give the ring to Rubing." Jin Ling raised both of their hands. One on the left and one on the right were wearing rings she had woven, but Sanhao's was Qionghua's and hers was pear blossom's.
"They little sisters also have a lot to say."
As she spoke, Jin Ling seemed to suddenly remember something: "By the way, are Ruan Sizhen and Zhong Sizhi still quarreling recently?"
"After Madam Wan ran away and caused a scene at the Shang Palace that day, the two of them seemed to have become closer, but they were still a little cautious and polite when interacting with each other."
"That's pretty good too. It always takes two people to slowly mend a broken relationship."
Jin Ling said this with emotion and stood up to leave.
"It's getting late. I won't disturb you and Mr. Gao anymore."
"...Why, why are you suddenly mentioning him?"
"Why are you pretending to be so rude to me? His Majesty is sending General Wan and Lord Gao to provide disaster relief. You two will definitely have a farewell talk tonight. I'm very considerate."
After saying this, she hurriedly picked up her skirt and ran away without waiting for Sanhao to react. However, she made Sanhao, who stayed in the room, blush.
When I came out of the Shanggong Bureau, I saw Xiaoxiao waiting for me outside the door.
"As your majesty expected, there's something fishy about Consort Cai's illness." Smiling, she supported Jin Ling and whispered about her findings. "While chatting with Ruizhu, who was beside Consort Cai, I learned that no one was present whenever Consort Cai took her medicine. Later, when Ruizhu was busy, she went in to take a look and discovered that a plant in Consort Cai's room was unusual; the soil was full of medicinal residue."
Jin Ling nodded. As soon as she heard from the Empress Dowager's palace that Concubine Cai was unwell, she guessed that she was paving the way for her abdication and leaving the palace.
Especially the Buddhist scripture screen made by Zhong Sizhi today and Liu Sanhao's annual joy made her immediately understand the time node.
"ah--!"
Suddenly, a familiar scream was heard at the corner of the Imperial Garden.
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